Welt sewing machine



Dec. 22, 1931. A. F. CARLSON WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed May 25, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 O no '03 loo ATTys.

Dec. 22, 1931. A. F. CARLSON WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed May 25, 192 8 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 I 7 as 5G 24 \nvenTor.

Axel F. Gcaflson bymwmmqlwwsdq W Dec. 22, 1931. CARL-SON 1,837,758

, WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed May 25, 1928 5 ShetsSheet 4 \nvenToT.

Axel F Carlson by WWKMMWH MW! AH'ys.

WELT SEWING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25. 1928 Figa \nvenT-or. Axe\ F Carlson AITy s.

Patented Dec. 22, 1931 iii-siren STATES PATENT OFFICE AXEL FOLKE GARL S ON, 0F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 REE-CE SHOE MACHIN ERY' COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF LIAIN E WELT SEWIN G MACHINE Application filed May 25,

This invention relates to welt sewing machines, and more especially to shoe sewing machines of the class known as welt-and-turn machines. An example of this class of machine is the Reece Welter in which the shoe upper is stitched to the lip of the insole and to the welt strip, exemplified by the patents of Zaleski et al. N 0. 1,288,366 ofDecember 17, 1918, and No. 1,361,952 of December 14, 1920, and characterized by the use of a crank shaft as the main or stitching shaft, operating various of the stitching instruments through links and levers. The novel features of the present invention however are applicable to other classes and types of welt sewing ma.-. chines, useful in stitching welts or strips to various materials.

The general object of the present inven-' tion is to provide an improved mechanism for acting upon the welt strip, and particularly for severing it after the'termination of a seam, and holding the welt end for the starting of a new seam. Prior patent of J. R.

liver, No. 1,716,562 of June 11, 1929, illus trates a Reece welting machine containing mechanism for manipulating and. severing the welt, and in one aspect the present invention is an improvement thereover. Additionally the present invention holds the severed end, and for this purpose a gripper device is herein employed of the alligator jaw type, illustrated by the expired patents of Plant No. 877,858 of Jan. 28,1908, and No. 940,724 of Nov. 23.1909, but of improved structure,

' combination and mode of action.

The present invention is particularly useful in connection with a welt sewing machine having a stop motion which brings the main shaft to rest'in a definite position, preferably with the needle retracted-and free from the work and thread, an example of which is shown in prior patent of J. R. OliverNo. 1,532,634 issued April 7, 1925,the invention being operable after the stoppage to grip'and sever the welt, and upon restartingto hold and position the welt end to best advantagev for the first two or three stitches.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be pointed out in the hereinafter following description of an illustra- 1928. Serial No. 280,504.

tive embodiment or will be apparent to those skilled in the subject of welting machines.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and advantages, the present invention consistsin the novel welt sewing machine and the novel features of combination, arrangement,

operation, construction and detail as herein.

illustrated or described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a general left elevation of a portion of a Reece welt sewing machine embodying the present invention. 1

Fig. 2 is a plan View of certain details taken in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is afront elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, but withmany of the rearward parts omitted for clearness of illustration; 3

Fig.4, on an enlarged scale, is aright elevation, looking in the slanted direction in dicated by the arrow 4 on Fig. 5, of the welt holding and severing devices and adjacent parts. i

Fig. 5 is a plan view looking downward Fig; 9 is a plan View of the parts in Fig.

8 taken in section on the'line 9 -9 of Fig. 8.

Figs. 1 to 5, and 7 to 9 are drawn in the position wherein the machine has stopped, the gripper has come forward and gripped the welt, the knife has cut the welt and retracted, and the ma'chineawaits restarting for a new seam; while Fig. 6 shows the subsequent position after stitching has begun and the gripper has opened and retracted. The position'of the shoe S is indicated in Fig. 1. The shoe upper U and the insole lip L are to have attached to them the Welt W in this class of machine. The type of machine may be that comprising a tall post with an upper frame portion or head 11 carrying fore-and-aft frame walls, the wall 12 corresponding with the left frame wall of the Zaleski et al. patents. The frame wall 13 indicated in Figs. 3 and 8 hereof may be an extension of the right frame wall. These walls carry the operating mechanism of the present invention. Various fixed brackets 14, 15, 16 and'17 etc. will he referred to hereinafter.

The main or stitching shaft 18 may be a crank shaft having connections (not shown) extending to the several stitching instruments. A needle 19 is shown, oscillating about an axle 20 and operated for example as in the Zaleski patents to penetrate the welt, upper and lip, receive the thread from a looper, and retract to draw the thread through the work in each stitch cycle. The feed may be effected as usual through the aid of a feed point 21 swung rearward and frontward about a horizontal feed bar or slide 22 (corresponding to Zaleski slide rod or shaft 101) extending right and left and operated. from the main shaft to reciprocate along the direction of feedby a movement equalling the length of a single stitch. looper, take-up and other usual stitching. instruments and operating connections will be understood, or ascertained from the prior patents. a

The welt may be supplied from any suitable source and pass through the welt arresting or checking device to be described, and thence through a welt guide 24 which may be substantially similar to the welt guide in said prior Patent No. 1,716,562. From the welt guide the welt passes through the stitching plane, beneath the needle, and to the work, or, as in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, to be held by the welt gripper.

' Thewelt gripper or holding device 29 is shown as comprising an under jaw 30 and an upper jaw 31 each provided with serrations for better gripping the leather. One of the jaws, preferably the upper jaw, is swingable for opening and closing the gripper, and is shown pivoted at 32 to the shank of the lower jaw and having a rearwardly extending tail 33, formed with a contact surface134 on which it rests when the jaw is open; as in Fig. 6. 'The tail also carries a lateral extension 35 for camming and latching the jaw closed, and a spring .36 is indicated tending to open it; while the jaw, be-

tween the serrations and pivot is stifiiy springy so as to yield slightly with thick welt strips.

The lower'gripper jaw 30 is formed at the forward end of a sliding shank 37, the rear end of which slides through a guiding block 38 which is swivelled upon the portion 15*" of the bracket 15, thus permitting the gripper as a whole to be swung right and left for purposes to be described. That thegripper may be lifted and lowered the upper and lower portions of the'guide block 38 are cut away, leaving bearing points 39, Fig. 4, in such relation that the shank 37 may be tilted upwardly. Near its rear end the shank carries a stop pin 40 striking against the block 38 and limiting the forward movement of the gripper. The shank at its left side carries a stud 41 pressed upon by a spring 42 tending always to throw the shank and gripper device The gripper shank 37 has other operative.

portions, for example, at its left side is an inclined or cam extension by which the gripper is thrown bodily to the rightby its rearward retracting movement, the incline 50 hearing against the left fork of the bracket 15; see Figs. 5 and 7 wherein the leftward positions appear in dotted lines. The shank also carries a bent bar 51 extending first leftwardly and thence at a forward, downward and leftward slant as will be clear from Figs. 1, 3 and 5, this bar taking part in certain actions to be described. The top of the shank 37 has opposite recesses or notches 43 engageable with a fixed bracket 16 to hold forward the lifted gripper shank, the bracket'being forked so that the shank may disengage it by its leftward shift.

Theguiding and limiting stud 53 on which the front end of the gripper shank rides is shown as of greater length than the width of the gripper shank, so that the latter may swing right and left between the forked sides of bracket 15' to an extent equal to the feed of several stitches, as will be clear from Figs. 5 and 7. Also this stud 53 is capable of rising and lowering movements to permit the grippers to be lifted and lowered. For this purpose the bracket portion 15" has short verticalslots' 52 as in Figs. 4 and 6, the stud passing through these slots and being enlarged at both ends so as to confine it in position during lifting and lowering movements. This stud 53 is used also for carrying a swinging block or closing member 54 secured to the stud. This closer has a front face 55 to contact the jaw extension 35 to close the jaw. The closer also has at its upper part a'shoulder or notch 56 to engage the latch extension 35 of the aw, as best seen in Fig. 4. The closer member 54 also has at its rear side a follower or contact extension 57 through which the member is swung to effect the 010s ing of the jaw, and at its lower part it has an extension or finger 58 playing between stops 59 to limit the swung positions of the closing member,which is pulled rearwardly by a spring 60' to restore it to its normal or Fig. 6 position.

The gripper shank, it will now be understood, is set at a double incline. That is from the rear to the front the shank and gripper incline upwardly as seen in Figs. 1, 8, 4 and 6, and incline also to the right as seen in Fig. 3, although this incline is not retained in the detached illustrations Figs. 4 to. 7. In both respects this arrangement is of value in the efficiency and convenience of operation. 7 The gripping and cutting devices and adjacent operating means are enabled to be mounted and operated separately from the thread handling and stitch forming instruments, and herein are mounted as a unit on the bracket 15 by which the devices may be applied, removed, adjusted or repaired without interference with other parts of the machine. The shank 37 moreover is not only slanted upwardly to the front, but is capable of a slight lifting movement, effected after it has come forward or gripped the welt. This permits it to be elevated slightly relatively to the welt guide and thus positioned so high as not to conflict with the positioning of the shoe as indicated in Fig. 1 for the starting of a new seam. Besides this up and down movement the gripper has a left and right movement as already stated, being thus adapted to advance bodily to the left with the feed of the work for a few stitches when starting a new seam, before releasing the welt, and releasing the welt end after the seam is started, the gripper thereafter retracting and returning to its rightward or normal position. The gripper thus has three pairs of motions, frontward and rearward, upward and downward, leftward and rightward, in addition to the opening and closing movements of the upper gripper jaw.

For the reception of the welt severing knife or cutter the gripper jaws are shown formed with narrow slots or kerfs 63 as appears in Figs. 5 and 7, while the shank 37 of the gripper has substantially its entire length grooved to form a slideway 64 for the shank of the knife. This groove forms right and left Walls to the gripper shank, and the right wall is shown with a longitudinal slot 65 to receive the stud by which the knife is actuated. The bottom wall of the shank '3? is longitudinally slotted at 66 to receive an operating arm 84 yet to be described.

The knife blade 69 is indicated in Figs. 4 and 6 in its retracted position. It operates by sliding frontward through the kerfs 63 to sever the welt with a shearing motion, being actuated to effect the out immediately after the closing of the gripper on the welt and being thereupon promptly retracted to the normal position shown. The blade 69 is detachably fastened by an adjusting device 70 to a shank or sliding bar 71 reciprocable in the way 64 in the gripper shank. At the right side of the knife shank is a stud 72 projecting through the slot 65 for actuation of the knife. As appears in Figs. 4 and 5 the knife shank atits left side is formed with a recess 73 directly above the bottom recess 66 in the gripper shank, so as to receive the arm 84 referred to. The rear end of the knife shank is shown connected by a tension spring 74 with the pin or stud 40 at the rear end of the gripper shank, tending thus normally to retract the knife.

With this invention all of the motions of the ipper aws and the severing blade are effected or controlled from a single actuating means, and preferably from a single oscillating actuator, which is put through its rocking movements the proper time and which operates the grip ers and knife as stated. This actuator, is shown as'mounted on the bracket 15 beneath the shankof the gripper. -A rock shaft 78 extends transversely, with its right end mounted in a bearing 15 on the bracket, while a fiangelti at the left side of the bracket is extended into an elongated sleeve or bearing 15 accommodating the leftward extension of the rockshaft 78, Which its left end is provided with a crank 79 whereby the shaft may be rocked in a forward direction, that is clockwise in Fig. 1, through arc of about 90 more or less.

The rock shaft 78 is provided with an enlarged hub 80 attached to the shaft between bearings 15 and 5 and this hub carries several actuating arms or rocking members, as follows:

The arm or rocker 81011 the shaft 78 eX- tends normally as shown. in Figs. 1 and 4,

and at its extremity carries concentric arc member or flange 82, the forward end of which has a bevel surface 83 adapted to engage the bevel 49 at the left rear corner of the drop extension 45 of the gripper shank 37, these bevels assisting the gripper shank to assun'ie its normal or rightward position. Adjacentthe rear or lower end of the arc flange 82, the rocker 81 carries a radial finger 84, which in effect is separate rocking memher and is arranged to enter and engage the lots 66 and 1 am gripper shank and knife Q hue shank respectiv assisting to keep the T fermer in its rightward. position. Also extending from the hub-80' is a separate rocker arm which cooperates with the projecting stud "2 of the knife shank, and thereby indirec tly with h e gripper closing member 54, to 1 knife and the closer.

The drawugs c .rly show in Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6 the detail conformation and relative positions 1! J I L 1 1 or the parts of the iockeroi actuator. The

*esulting from the forward and rear- .ward Oscillating movements thereof will be tion 15 below the drop extension 15 of the gripper shank. At its upper end the lifter has a lifting portion 89 at the right, extending higher than the body of the lifter, as best seen in Fig. 7] The lifter also has an operatin g extension or tail 90 to the rear of the fulcrum. In dotted lines in Fig. 4 is shown the inactive position of the lifter lever. When the rocking actuator member 82 swings forward and down, as indicated by the dotted position in Fig. 4:, this thrusts down on the tail90 of the lifter lever 88 and throws the main portion of the lever upwardly and rearwardly to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 7. During this motion the lifter rides under thecam surface 17 of the shank extension 15, andthus bodily lifts the gripper and shank, the tip of the lifter lever thereupon entering the notch or recess 48, so that it and the gripper shank are held in position; although subsequently when the shank is swung leftward ly the extension may ride off from portion 89 and permit the gripper to be lowered to its normal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in F 6.

The forward and reverse swing of the rocking actuator elements 78 to 85 already described operate toeifect the advancing and closing of the grippers on the welt and the advancing of the knife to sever the welt and the retraction of the knife. These actions are preferably performed at will after the stoppage of the machine, the subsequent actions of opening and retracting the grippers taking place on the starting of a new seam. Nhile the rocker or actuator might be swung forwardly through its motion of 90 more or less and retracted by manual or foot power, preferably it is herein done by an independent source of power under the control of the hand or foot. Any source of actuation may be employed for this purpose, whether by motor or spring power, and is herein shown as utilizing a shaft 95 driven at relatively high speed through a motor or clutch independent of the stitching drive of the machine. The shaft 95 is shown as carrying a worm 96 engaging a worm wheel 97 turning loosely on the main shaft 18 and constituting part of the slow advancing mechanism of the stop motion of the Oliver patent. Herein the shaft 95 is shown as carrying a second worm 98 at its forward end, this rotating a worm wheel 99 which is in'the form of a ring and constitutes the driving member of a clutch, the driven member 100 of which is in the form of a disk or wheel inside the wheel 99 and revolving on a shaft or axle turning in a circular bracket or sleeve 14 projecting leftward from a bracket 14 securedat the left side of the frame wall 12.

The operation is such that the wheel or driv ing clutch member 99 turns constantly in counterclockwise direction in Fig. 1 and at a speed for example of 150 R. P. M. more or less, thus making a single rotation in something under one half second. The clutch driven ll'lQlYllIml carries a crank or pin 101 and, as will be explained, is arranged to make a single rotation at each actuation and to come to rest with the crank 101 in the normal or lower position as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. A connect-- ing rod 102 extends from the clutch crank 101 to the crank 79 on the rocker shaft 78, the complete rotation of the clutch crank thus oscillating the rocker crank upwardly and downwardly to give the rocking parts the 90 more or less rocking motion referred to. The connecting rod 102 is coupled by universal joints by its upperand lower ends to its respective cranks on account of the differences in planes of action as seen in Fig. 3.

The clutch may be of a well known type making a single rotation and stop and need not be described in detail. The driving member has its web formed with a number of apertures 10 1, each of which may be engaged so as to quicken the closing of the clutch. A stop dog 105 is carried on the driven clutch member being pivoted thereon by a pin 106 which also constitutes a clutch pin adapted to engage in one of the apertures 10% A flat sprin 107 presses the dog and pin to the right, tending to engage the clutch. The dog has a tilting movement which prevents its reengaging the stopping part until a full turn has taken place.

Cooperating with the dog 105 is a clutch latch or hook 109 in the form of a lever piv oted upon-a bracket portion 1 1". Atinger 110 secured to the shaft of the latch lever 109 is connected by a spring 111 with the racket, thus tending to throw the latch109 in position to engage and stop the clutch driven member. The latch has a downwardly extending tail 113, the lower end of which has an offset thin contact flange 114.

In order to throw the latch and permit the clutch to close for one revolution at will the following manually controlled device may be employed. A contact 116 having an inclined undersurface is formed at the left end of a square shank 117 pivoted at 118 to a bentarm 119 and pulled upon by a spring 120 tending to hold the contact in the normal position shown in Fig.1... The bent arm is mounted on a fulcrum shaft or axle 121 hav ing its bearings in extensions 17 at the left side of the frame wall. 12. There also proeots from the axle an operating lever or controller 122 which extends downwardly and to, the left in-easy access to the operator. By this arrangement, if the clutch control lever 122 lStllIOWIl up by the hand of the operator, or by a portion of the work or shoe held in his hand, this operates'to elevate the contact 116 which engages againstthe inclined contact 114 on the tail of latch lever 109, thus lifting the latch lever.

The actuating contact 116 onits downward return movement can yield and pass behind the contact 114 and thus avoid conflict. The lifting of the latch lever 109 frees the dog 105. The spring 107 throws the clutch pin 106 to the right and it engages in one of the fiPQ-IQUIGS 104, whereupon the driving clutch 99 rotates the driven clutch member 100. At the end of a single rotation, preferably within a fraction of a second the dog 105 strikes the latch lever 109, which firstly cams thedog and clutch pin to the left, thus releasing the clutch and thereupon effects a positive stoppage of the driven clutch member. During this rotation the connecting rod 102 causes the rocking actuator 78-85 to swing forwardly from the normal position shown in Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6 and backagain to normal.

Next will be described the means forbringing about the release of the gripperand restoration to retracted position after the restarting of the machine for the stitching of a new seam, The gripper it will be remembered is closed and stands at its forward, ele: vated, and right hand position, as seen in the several figures with the exception of Fig. 6. The plan of this invention is that the gripper shifts slightly leftward, on the stud 53, during the formation of the first two or three stitches, while continuing to grip theiwelt. This motion carries the underside of the gripper away from the supporting portion 89 of the lifting lever 88, so that as the gripper reaches the endof its leftward movement it is released to be dropped to the dotted position shown inFig. 4 or the full position shown in Fig. 6, while at the same time the side walls of the gripper shank 37 shift away from the forked stop bracket 16, thus permitting the spring 42 to retract the shank and gripper. The same leftward motion which releases the gripper for dropping toits lower level also carries the latching extension 35 of the tail of the upper gripper away from the latching shoulder 56, so that the gripper is opened by its spring 36 to disengage the welt before its retracting move ment. Such leftward movement of the gripper is herein effected from the feed slide or shaft 22, the left extremity 23 of which pro- 'ects beyond the frame wall 12 and is squared and formed with a ratchet rack at'its rear side as best shown in 2. p

The described leftward movement of the gripper after the starting of a newseam and s before releasing the welt is preferably effected in a positive manner so as not to rely on the feeding action, and this leftward shifting movement may be effected by mechanical pushing leftward against the bent extension 51 of the gripper shank. The following mechanism is illustrated. Upon a stud'124standing leftward from the bracket 14. is shown mounted a swinging bracket 125 having a generally yoked form with hubs 126 mounted on the stud 124. The swinging bracket 125 at its right side has a downward extension 12'? carrying lower and upper bearings or lugs 128, 129 for a shaft 133 to be referred to. The swinging bracket also has a downwardly extending finger 130 pulled forwardly at certain times by a spring 131, the other or forward end of the spring being secured to a pin 132 at the underside of the bent arm 51, so that while the gripper stands in a forward position the spring is under tension and tends to swing forwardly the bracket 125. The pin 130 stands. rearward of the horizontal portion of the bent lever 51, so

that when the grippers shift rearwardly the arm strikes the pin and thus swings rearwardly the bracket 125. The relative posi-? tion of the arm, the spring and the two pins is indicated in the top view Fig. 5.

The swinging bracket 125 carries an oscillating shaft 133 turning in the bearings 128 and 129 and carrying at its upper end, above the bearing 129, a ratchet wheel 134, having its teeth shaped to be actuated by each leftward movement of the feed bar rack 23, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, that is, when the frame is in its forward position and the ratchet is in mesh with the rack. The shaft 133 carries a collar 135 at its lower end below the bearing 128 and a portion of this collar is extended to carry a. crank pin 136 which stands downwardly into the path of the bent arm 51, so that when the crank is thrown leftward by the rotation of the shaft it will bear against the arm and thus shift the grippers to the left. The shaft 133 also carries at a suitable point a pin 137 pulled upon by a spring 138 which thus tends to turn the shaft in a direction to throw crank 136 from the bar 51 and to turn the ratchet 134 counterclockwise in thetop view Fig. 2." It will be understood that when the bracket125 is in its forward position, and the ratchet and rack engaged as in Fig. 2, the oscillating feed movements of the rack will produce intermittent clockwise rotation of the ratchet and shaft, and thereby actuate the crank; and in order to prevent reverse movements of these parts during this intermittent operation a pawl 139 is shown mounted ion the upper bearing 129 so as to engage with and holdthe ratchet, the pawl being pulled upon by a spring 140 holding it in position. The tail 141 of the pawl is arranged to cooperate with a fixed contact arm 14 standing downwardly from the bracket 14 in such position that'when the bracket 125 swings rearwardly to disengage the ratchet from the rack, the tail will strike the fixed arm, whereby the pawl disengages'the ratchet and allows the spring 138 to'restore the ratchet, and the shaft 133, to normal position.

It is desirable with the welt manipulating devices described to control the advance of welt from the supply to the welt guide 24 and the stitching point in order that the operator, when pulling the shoe leftward after the stoppage of the machinemay be governed in regard to the length of welt thus pulled out or measured, and thuspreventing a waste of weltQ For this purpose the following described device for arresting or checking the drawing of welt from the supply so as to limit the amount thereof may be employed. This device is shown in Fig. 3 in front view and on a larger scale in Fig. 8 right hand view and Fig. 9 top view, partly in section; The plan of this part of the invention is to apply the arresting jaws to take hold of the welt when the pedal is allowed to rise and the machine stops, the jaws thus holding the welt but being cap able themselves of a leftward advancing movement of the desired extent, corresponding for example to one half inch feed of welt. Fig. 8 indicates a part or bar 26 which may be assumed to be an extension or bar connected with the pedal rod so as to rise and fall with the pedal. The jaws are shown closed on the welt in Figs. 3, 8 and 9, but when the rod 26 is pulled down by the pedal this will effect the opening of the jaws and the release of the welt for normal supply to the welt guide and stitching instruments. 1 1

This part of the invention is shown mounted below the fixed frame wall 18, a fixed hol low stud 145 being held at the underside of the wall by a bolt 146, with a washer 147 above the head of the bolt to confine the parts thereabove. Turning loosely on the stud 145 is the hub 148 of the lower welt arresting aw 149, so that this aw can swing bodily rightward and leftward as indicated by the full and dotted lines in Fig. 9, the dotted lines representing the normal position when stitching is proceeding and the full lines indicating the operative position when the machine is stopped and the welt put under'tension.

The under jaw 149 is formed with an upstanding flange 150 at its front end, this having a central vertical slot to receive a portion of the upper jaw. The flange 150 is extended in the form of a finger 151 looped over the path of the welt W, and the extremity of this finger carries a pin standing vertically upward above the jaw. A spring 153 is shownwound helically about the stud 145 and having its extremity bearing 'rightwardly against the pin 152, so that the spring serves the double purpose of holding down the hub 148 and .yieldingly holding the jaw in its normal or right hand position. A pair of opposite stop pins 154 and 155,fixed to the wall 13 or otherwise, are arranged to stop the swingmg movements of the jaw in its normal and operative positions respectively, these pins determining the amount of welt that can be drawn from the supply by the operator after the machine stops.

Cooperating with the jaw 149 is an upper j aw 156 having at its front end a portion 157 sliding and guided in the slot in the flan e 150 of the under jaw. The upper jaw is 0 narrow width as seen in Fig. 9 and at its underside it carries, directly above the welt, a sharp steel point 158 adapted to penetrate slightly into the leather and thus assist the jaws in ositively holding the welt against advance. The upper jaw also carries a downwardly extending lug 159 to the rear of the welt position, this sliding in a suitable slot in the under jaw. Fig. 8 shows the upper jaw in dotted lines in its raised, open or normal position, and in full lines in its lower position gripping the welt.

The rear part of the upper jaw is expanded into a yoke 160 which surrounds the hub 148 and is pivoted thereon by gimble pivots 161 to swing about a transverse horizontal axis. To the rear of the yoke 160 is formed a rearward extension 162, the lower side of which extends leftward at 163 and thence downward and at a forward slant at 164 to where, at the extremity, is carried a pin 165 extending to the right. This conformation brings the extremity of the pin 165, and the universal joint 166 carried thereby, substantially in axial line with the swinging movements of thelower aw, so that such movements will not appreciably affect the actuation of the upper ]2LW.

The universal joint 166 is shown connected by a rod 167 with parts controlled by the pedal rod 26. For example at the rear of the rod 167 may be a bell crank lever 168 having connection with the rod 26, while a spring operating upon the pedal, not shown, tends to pull the parts to the full line position shown with the upper jaw closed upon the welt. WVhen the pedal is lifted and the parts are in their full line position the jaws are closed, but when the pedal is depressed this throws forwardly the rod 167 and swings upwardly theupper jaw 156, so that the welt is always free to be fed when the machine is stitching. A slight depression of the pedal opens thej aw, thus releasing the welt, while a further depression merely opens the jaw, Without effect.

The complete operation may be substantially as follows. During stitching the gripping and cutting devices are in their retracted position as in Fig. 6, mounted on the detach able bracket 15, and entirely out of the way of interference with the stitching operations.

,At the end of a seam the operator lets up the control'pedal of the machine. This applies a stop motion and stops the stitching shaft in position with the needle retracted from the work and free of thread, so that the work is free to be withdrawn from the machine except for its attachment through the welt, thethread being usually released from its tension at this stage. The let up of the pedal also closes the jaws of the welt arresting or limiting device shown in Figs. 3, 8 and 9. The shoe is being held usually by both hands of the operator and his first action, assuming the welt is to be severed and the shoe removed, is to pull the shoe bodily to the left as far as allowed by the welt arresting device, the stop pins 154 and 155 of which may be so set as to permit one half inch ofleftward movement, and limiting the drawing of welt to that extent from the supply. Immediately following this leftward move ment the operator strikes up the controller lever 122, striking it either by hand, or conveniently with a portion of the shoe itself. This lifting of the control lever effects the closing of the clutch 99100, and the clutch driven member and crank 101 are given one complete turn before unclutching and stoppage. This operates through the connecting rod 102 to swing the actuator 7885 upwardly and forwardly through about 90 more or less and at once back to the normal position shown. This double swinging movement of the actuator effects partof the movements of the gripper and the complete forward and retracting movement of the knife as follows. The bevel portion 83 of the actuatorarm 81 strikes the bevel portion 49 of the drop extension and thus cams the gripper shank 37 to the right. The are portion 82 strikes the extension 45 and thrusts the gripper shank forwardly, this motion continuing until the arc passes the lower rear corner of the extension. The final part of the movement of the arc member 82 causes it to strike the tail 90 of thelifter 88 which swings into position as in Fig. 4 and lifts the gripper and shank to their elevated position as shown eX- cept in Fig. 6, this lifting movement br ngin g the notches 43 of the gripper shank nto engagement with the forked bracket 16, so that the gripper is thereby latched in its forward position. 1n the meanwhile the actuator arm 84 enters the slot 66 in the underside of the gripper shank and incidentally the slot 73 at the left side of the knife shank, this arm in its forward movement tendin to hold the gripper shank truly to its ri ht hand position. The engagement of the actuator arm 85 with the knife stud 72 causes the relative advance of the knife so that the cutting of the welt is effected, but not until the welt has been firmly gripped by the jaws. The same stud 72 projecting from the knife shank cooperates with the jaw closer 54, swinging it forwardly through the extension 57, and thus lifting the upper jaw tai 33 and gripping the welt, the tail becoming latched however as seen in Fig. 4 only when the stud 72 reaches the extreme of its forward movement when it contacts against the portion of the lifter and thrusts it forward enough for the shoulder 56 to pass-by the latching extension 35. The closer is first swung upwardly by the stud pressing against the extension 57, so that the welt is gripped as the stud rides under the extension 57, the cutting therefore only taking place after the gripping of the welt, but before the closing of the latch. The bodily lifting of the gripper 3y the lifter 88 takes place about the time that the cutting occurs.- Another result of the forward movement of the gripper is that the bent arm 51 operating through spring 131 pulls forwardly onpin 130 and the swinging bracket 125, so that the bracket is brought forwardly until the ratchet 134 is in engagement with the rack 23, in readiness for the cooperation which is to occur after a new seam is started. The return movement of the actuator parts leaves the gripper in its front: ward, elevated and rightward position, with the upper jaw latch closed. The return movement of the actuator is therefore idle, except that the arm 84 pressing rearwardly within the shank of the knife supplements the spring 74 by positively retracting the knife to normal position. The welt has now been severed and is held at two points, namely by the arrest 1g device between the supply and welt guide and by the gripper at the free extremity of the welt. The operator is free to remove the shoe by merely cutting the thread, or without this action if an automatic thread cutting device is employed. The machine is ready for the restarting of a new seam.

The operation of restarting the machine for a new seam requires no special care or attention by the operator. The fact that the gripper is lifted above its normal or gripping position carries it out of conflict with the shoe, which may have a shape tending to interfere with the gripper if in its low-,

ered or normal position. This can be readily seen in Fig. 1 where the elevated gripper clears the parts of the shoe, and Fig. 3 shows that it is sli htly higher than the welt guide 24. During the gripping action therefore the grippers have come forward and taken the welt at its normal elevation, held it during the cutting, and lifted it enough for the parts of the gripper to clear the shoe. After positioning the shoe for the new seam the operator depresses the pedal, which starts the rotation of the stitching shaft and at the same time through the connection 167168 opens the welt arresting device, thus releasing the welt supply and permitting the device to snap back to the normal position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 9. The stitching commences and the feed progresses through the feed bar 22 and the feed point 21 oscillating thereon. The rack 23 on the feed bar causes intermittent rotations of the ratchet 134 and shaft 133 so that the crank'136 is thrown leftward in synchronism with the feed of the work, and carries the gripper left-ward, thus avoiding impeding, and-actually assisting the feed of the work. After the designated amount of feed, for example three stitches, the releasing actions take place. The gripper latch extension rides out of engagement with the shoulder 56, permitting the gripper to open. At the same time the drop extension of the gripper shank rides leftward out of engagement with the lifter 88, permitting the gripper and shank to drop. Both the dropping movement of the gripper shank and its leftward movement tend to dis engage its notches 43 from the forked bracket'l6, thus releasing the shank tobe pulled rearwardly by the sping 4-2. 'These three releases may take place substantially simultaneously. The gripper shank is drawn rearwardly, the cam cams it to the right and the parts resume normal position. During the rearward movement of the gripper shank the bent arm'51 causes the rearward swinging of the bracket 125 which disengages the ratchet 13%- from the rack 23, following which the pawl 139 is thrown to release the ratchet and permit the spring 138 to swing the shaft l33 and crank 136 back to normal position.

There has thus been described a welt sewing machine embodying the principles and attaining the advantages of the present invvention. Since many matters of combina tion, arrangement, operation, construction and detail may be variously modified without departing from the principles, it is not intended to limit the invention to such matters except to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a welt sewing machine, means guiding the welt to the sewing point, a welt holding gripper beyond the sewing point, and having a longitudinally sliding shank, and means guiding said shank to move at an upward incline toward the sewing point, and means for bodily lifting the gripper after it reaches its welt engaging position. 7

2. In a welt sewing machine, means guiding the welt to the sewing point, a welt holding gripper beyond the sewing point, means for moving the gripper to position to engage the welt, and means for bodily lifting the gripper slightly after engaging the welt.

3; In a welt sewing machine, means guiding the welt to the sewing point, a welt holding gripper beyond the sewing point, said gripper fitted for bodily lifting and advancing movements when in gripping position, and means for giving such gripper such bodily lifting and advancing movements.

4. In a welt sewing machine in which the work and. welt are fed advancingly to one side, a welt gripper and associated cutter, and a longitudinally sliding shank carryingthe gripper and arranged to slide frontward to bring the gripper to position, said shank fitted for side shifting whereby the gripper may advance with the work and welt in starting seam, and for lifting and dropping while in front position and means for giving the shank such side shifting movements and lifting and dropping movements while in front position.

5. I11 a welt sewing machine, a bracket, a gripper with shank movable longitudinally on the bracket between gripping and retracted positions, a gripper closer, a gripper lifter for bodily lifting the gripper when in gripping position, and an actuator on said bracket for moving the gripper shank and thereafter operating the closer and lifter.

6. In a welt sewing machine a sliding gripper shank and welt gripper thereon, a welt cutter sliding in the shank, a stud projecting therefrom, a swingin gripper closer, mounted independently of the gripper shank and cutter, and an actuator movable to shift the stud and operate the cutter, and the stud arranged by such shifting to actuate the closer and close the gripper in advance of the cutting.

7. In a welt sewing machine as in claim 6 the gripper closer arranged to swing and close the gripper in the first part of the action, and thereupon to remain idle and finally to swing further to a latching position, and a latch arranged to hold the gripper in latched position.

1 8. In a welt sewing machine a shank and a welt gripper thereon, the shank fitted to swing advancingly and back along the direction of feed and to slide frontward to and rearward from the sewing point and to lift after engaging the welt, and an actuator arranged to swing back the shank and to slide the shank toward the sewing point and to lift the gripper.

9. In a welt sewing machine a shank and a welt gripper thereon, the shank fitted to slide to and from the sewing point and to lift after engaging the welt, and an actuator arranged to slide the shank toward the sewing point and to lift the gripper and to cause the shank ant gripper to be locked there.

' 10. In a welt sewing machine a welt gripper, actuating means moving the gripper to gripping position, liftingit bodily slightly and closing it on the welt, lock means holding it in gripping position, lifted, and closed, and means acting after the start of a seam for releasing said locking means.

11. In a shoe welt sewing machine means guiding the welt to the sewing point, means feeding the work substantially horizontally, a welt holding gripper beyond the sewing point comprising a shank or carrier movable in an upwardly inclined direction and having a lower jaw thereby carried to the under side of the welt and having an upper jaw mounted to close down upon the upper side of 1 welt, means for moving the gripper to position to engage the welt, means for closing the upper jaw upon the welt, and means bodily lifting the gripper slightly after engaging the work.

12. In a welt sewing machine a welt gripper, movable to and from gripping position, a fixed part latching it closed in gripping position, said gripper being also movable advancingly with the feed of the work and welt, a ratchet device operated intermittently by the feed, and a part shifted thereby to advance the gripper with the feed, the gripper being so engaged with the latching part that its advance with the feed carries it out of engagement with the latching part.

13. In a welt sewing machine having stitching means, stopping means and means for gri ping and severing the welt end while steppe a control lever adapted to be contacted by the work after stopping, to operate the gripping and severing means, a welt arrester comprising welt holding jaws, a connection closing them on the welt upon stoppage of the machine, the arrester mounted for its jaws and gripped welt to shift bodily in the direction of feed, a spring resisting such shift and returning the jaws to normal position when disengaged from the welt, and stop means for the advancing shift and return movements of the arrester.

14. In a welt sewing machine, a frame, a bracket, a gripper with shank movable longitudinally on the bracket between gripping and retracted positions, a gripper closer swingably mounted on the bracket, and an actuator swingably mounted on said bracket with a rocking extension for moving the gripper shank and another rocking extension for thereafter operating the closer.

15. In a welt sewing machine, a bracket, a gripper with shank movable longitudinally frontwardly and rearwardly on the bracket between gripping and retracted positions, a ripper closer, an actuator on said bracket I01 moving frontward the gripper shank and thereafter operating the closer, said gripper shank adapted to swing advancingly from gripping position laterally with the feed,

and a connection from the actuator engaging and returning the gripper shank laterally against the direction of feed, comprising an arm swinging frontward toward the sewing point while engaging a longitudinal slot in said shank.

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature hereto.

AXEL F OLKE OARLSON. 

